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Finance (No. 3) Bill

You have caught me slightly off guard, Mr Hoyle. I was expecting my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) to participate in the previous debate, but I shall plough on as ever. It is good to see you back in the Chair. I hope that you had a refreshing evening's sleep after we had considered earlier matters. Clause 4, which we have just agreed without a Division, and clause 10 are inextricably linked. I hope that there will be another opportunity to discuss and probe with the Minister the impact of the proposals in clause 10, as they relate to the proposals in clause 4 that we have just approved. The effect of clause 10 is to reduce the rates of writing-down allowances for new and unrelieved expenditure from the relevant dates, which are 1 April 2012 for corporation tax and 6 April 2012 for income tax. As the Minister will know, the main rate will be reduced from 20% to 18% and, for special rate expenditure, from 10% to 8%. Special rate expenditure includes expenditure on long-life assets, thermal insulation and integral features, as well as expenditure incurred on or after 1 April 2009, with cars with CO2 emissions of more than 160 grams per km due for consideration under the clause. For chargeable periods that straddle the relevant date, the rate of the writing-down allowance is a hybrid of the rates before and after the change. The purpose of the amendment is not necessarily to oppose clause 10, but simply to ask the Government for a review on the impact of the abolition of capital allowances for smaller businesses and businesses that are more likely to invest, such as manufacturers generally.